ISSN 2755-3531
New records of Bela powisiana (Dautzenberg 1887) (Gastropoda: Conidae) in southern Europe
Javier Urra & Serge Gofas
Abstract. The occurrence of Bela powisiana (Dautzenberg 1887) is reported in the Alboran Sea, therefore documenting a Lusitanian distribution for this little known species. Bela mingoranceae Martín Pérez & Vera Peláez 2007, recently described from the same area, is considered a synonym. Bela powisiana is compared with two other congeneric species found sympatrically in southern Spain. The name Bela zonata (Locard 1892) is suggested as the valid name to be employed instead of the well known Bela laevigata (Philippi 1836), twice preoccupied.
Key words. Southern Spain, Conidae, Bela powisiana, Bela zonata
Date of publication. October 2009
Paolo Mariottini, Carlo Smriglio Andrea Di Giulio & Marco Oliverio
Abstract. Based on shell characters, the complex of Mediterranean fossil and extant species related to the Recent taxon Bela menkhorsti van Aartsen 1988 is critically analyzed. This species is characterised morphologically with respect to both the close Recent Bela zenetouae (van Aartsen 1988) and the Plio-Pleistocene form, that are regarded as valid and different taxa, only for the different embryonic/larval shell development. We formally propose to move Feria zenetoue to the genus Bela Gray 1847 and we describe the fossil form as Bela trinacria Mariottini & Smriglio n. sp.
Key words. Bela, taxonomy, larval development, Mediterranean Sea, Recent, Pliocene
New taxon. Bela trinacria Mariottini & Smriglio, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Monacha oecali new species from southern Turkey (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae)
Bernhard Hausdorf & Barna Páll-Gergely
Abstract. Monacha oecali n. sp. from the plain of the Köprülü Çayı in the province Antalya in southern Turkey is characterized by a very short penis, a very short vagina, a long slender vaginal appendix and a large shell with a narrow, almost completely obscured umbilicus.
Key words. Monacha, Hygromiidae, systematics, Turkey
New taxon. Monacha oecali Hausdorf & Páll-Gergely, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Turbo bidens Linnaeus 1758 (Gastropoda: Clausiliidae) misidentified for 250 years
Dietrich Kadolsky
Abstract The nomenclatural history and the identity of the nominal species Turbo bidens Linnaeus 1758 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Clausiliidae) is discussed. It is shown that it has been incorrectly identified with the species known as Papillifera papillaris (O.F. Müller 1774) based on a misinterpretation of the original diagnosis. As the name has been placed on the Official List in Opinion 2176, it requires a valid neotype designation to fix its identity in an unequivocal manner. It is shown that the neotype designation by Falkner et al. (2002) is invalid. A neotype is proposed, which will render the name Turbo bidens Linnaeus 1758 a senior subjective synonym, and the valid name for the species hitherto known as Cochlodina (Procochlodina) incisa (Küster 1876). The nominal species Turbo bidens Linnaeus 1758 has been cited as the type species of Clausilia Draparnaud 1805, Cochlodina Férussac 1821 and Marpessa Gray in Turton 1840, but in all cases Turbo bidens Linnaeus 1758 was misidentified. The type species of Papillifera Hartmann 1842 is usually assumed to be Clausilia solida Draparnaud 1805 through subsequent designation by Lindholm (1924), but the earlier designation of Helix papillaris O.F. Müller 1774 by von Martens 1860 is shown to be valid.
Key words. Clausilia, Cochlodina, Marpessa, Papillifera papillaris, Cochlodina bidens, type species, neotype
Date of publication. October 2009
Yurena Yanes, Javier Martín, Miguel Artiles, Leopoldo Moro, María R. Alonso &
Miguel Ibáñez
Abstract. Hemicycla eurythyra O. Boettger 1908, endemic to Tenerife, was rediscovered near its type locality. It is redescribed and compared with two conchologically similar taxa: H. pouchet (A. Férussac 1821) and H. pouchadan Ibáñez & Alonso 2007. H. eurythyra is grouped in the subgenus Hemicycla s. str. by the presence of a diverticulum in the bursa copulatrix complex.
Key words. Gastropoda, Hemicycla eurythyra, Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Date of publication. October 2009
Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Ghana: Goniodorididae
Malcolm Edmunds
Abstract. Descriptions are given of eight species of Doridoidea belonging to the family Goniodorididae from Ghana, West Africa. There are six species of Okenia of which Okenia impexa Marcus 1957 is known from both sides of the Atlantic, while the other five species are only known from West Africa: Okenia africana n. sp. has many long lateral processes; Okenia ghanensis n. sp. has short lateral processes of variable form, while Okenia species A and species B have not been named as they are known only from single specimens. The sixth species, Okenia digitata, characterised by three circlets of gills, was originally placed in a new genus Teshia Edmunds 1966, but retention of this genus can no longer be justified. Okenia africana n. sp. exhibits a stage intermediate between typical Okenia and Okenia digitata with one circlet of gills and two short rows of small gills in the position where O. digitata has secondary circlets. Two species of Trapania are also described, Trapania africana n. sp. with yellow spots and maroon papillae, and Trapania luquei Ortea 1989 which is also known from the Cape Verde and the Canary Islands.
Key words. Atlantic nudibranchs, Okenia, Teshia, Trapania
New taxa. Okenia africana Edmunds, 2009; Okenia ghanensis Edmunds, 2009; Trapania africana Edmunds, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Oreohomorus apio new species from Uganda (Gastropoda: Subulinidae)
Torsten Wronski & Bernhard Hausdorf
Abstract. Oreohomorus apio n. sp. from the Matiri forest in western Uganda is characterized by its small size and the rapidly increasing first whorls resulting in a broad top.
Key words. Oreohomorus, Subulinidae, systematics, Uganda
New taxon. Oreohomorus apio Wronski & Hausdorf, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Ecology, distribution and conservation of Vertigo species of European Importance in Slovakia
Ľubomíra Vavrová, Michal Horsák, Jozef Šteffek & Tomáš Čejka
Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to summarise up-to-date information on the ecology and distribution of Vertigo angustior, V. geyeri, and V. moulinsiana in Slovakia. V. moulinsiana is an inhabitant of both treeless calcareous-fens and calcium-rich sedge marshes situated in warm lowland regions. V. angustior occurs in various types of habitats (i.e. different types of calcium-rich wetlands, mainly treeless calcareous-fens). V. geyeri is an exlusive inhabitant of treeless fens and has a relatively broad ecological range along the gradient of calcium. It frequently lives in Sphagnum-fens at higher altitudes. V. angustior is the most common of these three species and more data on its occurrence are expected in the near future. The occurrence of V. geyeri and V. moulinsiana reflects their relict distribution in Slovakia, in particular in the northern part (V. geyeri) and southern and eastern part (V. moulinsiana). The recent conservation status of the species in Slovakia based on the categories and criteria of the IUCN (version 3.1, 2001) is as follows: V. angustior – Vulnerable, V. geyeri and V. moulinsiana – Endangered.
Key words. Vertigo spp., Annex IV, Slovakia, ecology, distribution, conservation
Date of publication. October 2009
Barna Páll-Gergely
Abstract. The Turkish members of Ramusculus are revised. Ayna is described as a new genus. It is characterized by an extremely slender shell with only a single angular denticle in the aperture, the lack of a diverticulum of the bursa copulatrix and by the inner structure of the penis by the presence of two longitudinal rolls. The monospecific genus Ayna (A. mienisi (Gittenberger 1986)) is known only from northeastern Anatolia.
Key words. Turkey, Enidae, Ramusculus, Ayna, taxonomy
New taxa. Ayna Páll-Gergely, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Jan Kozłowski & Maria Kozłowska
Abstract. Arion lusitanicus Mabille (= A. vulgaris Moquin-Tandon) causes significant crop damage in some parts of Poland. In the course of research into alternative methods of limiting the damage caused by A. lusitanicus to crop plants, no-choice tests were carried out on the palatability and consumption of 95 species of herbaceous plants and oilseed rape. In controlled laboratory conditions, over six consecutive days, the damage to the plants caused by the slug was observed (in the 2–3 leaf phase). For each tested plant species, a palatability index (P.I.) and a consumption index (C.I.) were determined. As a result of the observations the slugs’ feeding behaviour was described, palatable and unpalatable plants were distinguished, and the degree of acceptance of those plants by the slug was determined. A. lusitanicus showed differentiated preferences in respect of various plant species. Approximately 23% were unpalatable plants, and 48% low-palatability plants. Unpalatable plants included such species as Impatiens roylei, Geranium robertianum, Saponaria officinalis, Glechoma hederacea, Epilobium palustre and Geum urbanum. 26% of the tested species are palatable to the slug. These include Artemisia dracunculus, Tripleurospermum inodorum, Datura stramonium, Lamium amplexicaule, Myosotis arvensis, Satureja hortensis and Conium maculatum. The remaining two species (Ocimum basilicum, Trifolium repens) have palatability equal to that of the control plant Brassica napus. It was noticed that the level of acceptance of particular plant species by A. lusitanicus was not affected by the plants’ life cycle and their family membership. It was found that there was highly significant differentiation in slugs’ feeding behaviour depending on the plant species.
Key words. Arion lusitanicus, Arion vulgaris, oilseed rape, herbaceous plants, palatability index, consumption index
Date of publication. October 2009
Min Wu & Qin Wu
Abstract. Clausiliopsis szechenyi (Boettger 1883), the type species of Clausiliopsis, is redescribed, including the anatomy, based on new collections. Clausiliopsis can be diagnosed by the presence of both penial caecum and epiphallus caecum, a rather short penis, the presence of a long diverticulum, and a more or less strongly convoluted bursa copulatrix duct. A twelfth species of the genus, Clausiliopsis hengdan sp. nov., is described from Hengdan, Gansu, China.
Key words. Enidae, Clausiliopsis, type species, new species, China
New taxon. Clausiliopsis hengdan Wu & Wu, 2009
Date of publication. October 2009
Two new species of Mitromorpha Carpenter 1865 from the Western Atlantic (Conoidea: Mitromorphinae)
Constantine Mifsud
Abstract. Two new species, Mitromorpha (Mitrolumna) braziliensis sp. nov. and M. (M.) canopusensis sp. nov., are described from the western Atlantic off Brazil. These are the only species of Mitromorpha with body sculpture dominated by spiral ridges rather than with a well developed axial sculpture.
Key words. Conoidea, Mitromorphinae, west Atlantic, Brazil, new species
New taxa. Mitromorpha (Mitrolumna) braziliensis Mifsud, 2000; Mitromorpha (Mitrolumna) canopusensis Mifsud, 2000
Date of publication. October 2009
An earlier record of the slug Selenochlamys ysbryda Rowson & Symondson, from Brecon, UK [Short Communication]
Heike Reise & John M.C. Hutchinson
Date of publication. October 2009
Land snails from Britain’s most northerly natural woodland [Short Communication]
R.C. Preece
Date of publication. October 2009
Book Review: Encyclopedia of Marine Gastropods by Alain Robin
Kevin Brown
Stella Madeline Davies, 1927–2008 [Obituary]
Elizabeth Platts & Richard C. Preece